Archive for January, 2008

30 January 2008
Many years ago, I worked in the Comic Book industry. While in that job, I found a product line called “Pocket Dragons.” They’re a wonderful creation by Real Musgrave who happened to live in the DFW Metroplex. Real Musgrave had also done posters and sculptures for both Scarborough Faire and the larger Texas Renaissance Festival close to Houston. I find his work to be comically engaging and full of fantastic life. My wife and I both are fans of his work and own several pieces. These are two of them:.
Cheers.

I managed to get through my entire first full day back at home without an inspiration for a good photo. I’m not unhappy with this one, but, I am pretty sure it’s kind of a repeat of a photo Kyle took last year. Oh well, it’s not the first time! This is a beloved posession—handmade dolls by Michael Young of Friperies, a friend from Scarborough. The dolls are dressed in replica outfits in our actual fabric, to recreate the look of our wedding. Michael works from photographs and has amazing creative vision. I love these little dolls.

I enjoyed a nice visit with a friend this afternoon at Starbucks. <sigh> Sometimes, it’s just the perfect place, even if it’s not the perfect cup of coffee.

We had dinner at home, and cuddled up with a couple of our favourite shows on TV (DVR). Tomorrow I’ll take care of the final paperwork on the sale of the Bronco—the document I was waiting for arrived from Austin today.

Home. I had a wonderful visit with my mama, but it sure feels good to be back home. I’m afraid I need a day or so to get used to the cooler weather, though! In Florida, even January weather is pretty warm.

The big news here today was the wind. Gusts of up to 55 miles an hour caused cancelled and redirected flights, downed power lines and even wildfires. Fortunately, although forced to circle in the sky for a while, my flight was at least allowed to land at the right airport! Kyle picked me up at the airport and then I went along while he finished his work day at the airport facility. The trailer that houses the office there, seemed to be defying the forces of nature to hold itself together and stay upright in the crazy wind. But, it did, and at the end of the work day, we came home to happy puppies and even a happy cat!

I was a bit too tired to really consider driving to Allen and back late at night, so I opted for No Frills instead of dancing. It was a fun evening of food, drink, good company and trivia—my photo is a weird close-up of the “trivia box” used to play Buzztime Trivia.

29 January 2008
…through the bottom of a glass.
What a day. Luckily I managed to sneak in a photo early in the day because the rest of the day got shot to hell. There are two caveats to that statement. First, my wife came home from Floriday yesterday after a nine-day visit with her family. Welcome home, sweetheart. Second, the day ended in fine fashion playing trivia with good friends at No Frills Grill in Arlington. We played a number of games, and with the exception of one game, one of the three of us won each game (my wife doesn't actually control her own trivia box, she just feeds us answers). That was fun. So, the photo:
This is a glass tumbler that my wife made with her very own hands. It's hand-blown in traditional manner and I couldn't be more proud to keep it on my desk. I also have a "blob" that was one of her very first pieces, but I can't drink out of that.
Cheers.

Day Nine in Florida. There is one highway near my mom’s house that I simply cannot travel without singing that song. And, it’s because the subject of my (poor quality) photograph is so prevalent in this otherwise flat Central Florida landscape. It’s a simple structure, built to entertain as it supports high voltage wires just outside the town of Celebration. I’ve loved it for years, and never been able to take even a decent photo of it. So, tonight, John disobeyed traffic laws and pulled to the side of the road for me, so at least the motion and traffic would be eliminated as excuses. The distance was further than my little camera could deal well with, but at least there’s no big truck between me and Mickey!

Mother and John surprised me tonight with a trip to the Polynesian Hotel for dinner. Sweet little restaurant there, called the Kona Cafe. I enjoyed a delightful dinner of Asian Noodles and Chicken and Snow Peas in a Sweet and Sour sauce. Yum. I’d never been to the Polynesian before—only through it by monorail! So, it was a special treat for me. It’s a beautiful place.

This has really been a wonderful trip here, start to finish. We’ve fit in some shopping, some game-playing, some walks down memory lane. We’ve eaten in over a dozen great restaurants, sung pretty music, and soaked in the hot tub. I’m coming home with more clothes, more shoes, some great old photos for scrapbooking, and plenty of fun memories. I hate leaving—it’s nice to be with my mama. But, I can hardly wait to get home where my beloved husband, two crazy dogs and a borderline cat are waiting to greet me. I’m pretty sure they might have missed me as much as I’ve missed them.

28 January 2008
I've played football, what American's call soccer, for most of my life. My first memory of playing the game was in an apartment parking lot in Germany in the early 70s (72ish). I've never really questioned the passion or the desire, I've just presumed it to be part of me despite the pressure from the North Texas community to embrace American-style Football as my sport of choice. I'll never do that; soccer will forever be "my" sport. But, perhaps it's time I give up the playing of it. Arseblog wrote yesterday "I think I might retire. When the idea of sitting around in a dressing gown eating toast is more appealing than going to play football you know it's probably time" and I can't disagree with him. For a number of seasons now I've been contemplating it without really knowing I've been contemplating. I tried coaching the team to get my mind and passion back into it, but the politics wore me out even more than the actual playing. Nowadays it seems the team is even less focused than I am and getting a training together is more and more difficult. I'll need something to do to keep in shape, but, for now, perhaps it's time I hang up my boots. *sigh*
Cheers.

27 January 2008
Yesterday while visiting NFG Arlington (see yesterday's entry), I was speaking with Jason, the manager about Shiner. He let slip that the NFG in Mansfield had the new Shiner Black on draught and that he would be on duty during the day on Sunday. So, after making sure my computer was working properly and was downloading the many, many megs of necessary updates, I went to NFG Mansfield. Nice place. The bar is big, the patrons friendly and bartender, Annie, very pleasant and knowledgeable. As expected, NFG Mansfield has a good selection of brew both draught and bottle. This is one of the visible beer coolers stocked for the day.
Cheers.

26 January 2008
A virus. A bloody virus got on my computer through all the firewalls, antiviral protection and simpe safe-computing habits I've built up over the years. A bloody virus and my day is shot to hell. I got up in the morning, knowing the virus was on the computer, and watched some footy on the television anyway. Some enjoyable FA cup football to relax me a bit. Then I started on the various repair techniques; none of which worked. Eventually, I had to fit in a trip to Fry's because all of my thumbdrives have gone walkabout and I desperately need to transfer necessary driver files from a laptop to the newly formatted and installed desktop. Well, what's a trip to Fry's without a side-trip to NFG, right? This is the firelane curb in front, and slightly to the side, of the front door. It pretty much sums up how I felt. NO!
Cheers.

Day Eight in Florida. Church this morning. Lunch out. Then, a quiet afternoon at home, followed by dinner out with friends, Audrey and Rod. Back home for dessert and after the goodbyes . . . Game Time! We played a few hands of Mah Jong, and then we lost our third, so Mama and I switched to Phase 10.

For a number of years in this household, Phase 10 has been a favourite game. From the makers of the more familiar Uno, this is a very fun little game, where a game consists of ten “phases” where the goal changes each time. And, if one person makes the goal (say, a set of three, and a run of three) and others don’t, then on the next “phase,” the players have different goals! You don’t switch to the next goal level, until you achieve the last one. Wild cards and skip cards add to the fun. And Mama and I have discovered that it’s even fun with only two people. So, we played ’til we were punchy tonight!

25 January 2008
The day at work, again, and no photos worth a damn. It's difficult to continually locate something worth photo'ing when you see the same thing over, and over, and over again. So, all I wanted to do when I got home was put fingers on my wife's mirror:
Heh.
Cheers.